Shepard's Destruction
by christineeliza
Summary: Eliza Shepard has just lost everyone, and it's all her fault. The renegade in her is taking over, and she values destruction over rebuilding. Until him. When Shepard meets Kaiden, her thoughts are no longer all about ending a corrupted and conflicting world but about how to stop the ones who think their order is the end to chaos.
1. Chapter 1

Thursday

Date: 44.2.2071

Cycle 3.6

1:21 a.m.

"Dammit"

There it was. That one word. The only sign of frustration that I would show. My body tensed as I listened to the slow treading of someone coming towards me. Heavy footsteps came to a rest behind me, and then I could feel the gentle pressure of a hand on my shoulder; it felt like fire against my chilled flesh.

"Go to bed, Eliza." James' voice seemed to wrap around my presence. I knew he was worried. They were all worried. I could hardly blame them. What I had done was unforgivable. Not even Hell would welcome me now. I closed my eyes. Became oblivious to everything, everyone around me. When I opened my eyes, I was once again the only one here. Alone. It was better like this.

I stepped away from the window. Stopped looking at the stars. This is reality, and it's fucking harsh. The flecks of red reflecting from my eyes as I turned away from the glass comforted me. This is who I am.

**Friday**

44.3.2071

My hands trembled as I turned the shower off. Drops of water slid down the length of my long, black hair as it rested on my bare back. I welcomed the rush of cold air as it surrounded me. Reality waited though, so I grabbed the towel off of the hook and wrapped it around me as I retreived the holo-pad resting on the vanity. 2 emergency priority e-mails. I quickly opened the one from Captain Anderson.

_Shepard:_

_We need you to go to the Hades Gamma cluster. We've received a stress call from one of our colonies. Barlie was unable to make out what was going on. The call ended before the signal could be cleared. The colony, Arta's Crowe, is completely off the grid right now. No power. No communication. We're talking lots of people here, Shepard Get down there and find out what is going on. Joker has already set course for this colony. _

_Anderson _

The other email could wait. I grabbed my gear and started putting it on. My skin relished in the familiar feel of the tight, black material. The N7 emblem on the left side of my chest seemed to condemn me, but the heavy feel of the pistol attached to my hip made it clear that this outfit was meant for me. I could feel the rush. The preparation my body was making to fight. A slight blue aura was circling my body, reminding me of what I can do. I felt the tendrils of biotic power lashing at the air. I was ready. They wouldn't be though.


	2. Chapter 2

"No hemlet again?" James' asked

"No. When I kill someone, I want them to see how they look in my eyes. Small. Insignifcant."

James turned his head away from me, no longer able to look at me. A lot of people looked away from me, whether my actions were good or not. Not many people could stand looking at my eyes. The red iris' reminded them of demons. I reminded them of a demon.

"ETA 5 minutes, Shepard." Joker's voice resounded in the small chamber.

"Joker, I want you to engage stealth mode. We don't know what is going on down there."

"No prob, Shep." Joker never seemed to mind what I had become. I think he understood better than anyone. He knew what had happened, and he didn't blame me for their deaths.

"Just in case you forgot, Shepherd, if you put my baby in any danger, I'm leaving your ass behind."

"You can try, Joker. You'd miss my ass though."

James' head snapped back around at this comment, and he started choking. "Commander?"

"What? I have a nice ass." James finally noticed the smirk on my face.

"Should have fucking known." He muttered. "She always goddamn teases me."

Teases. My smirk disappeared as I thought of the last person who used to accuse me of teasing him. Kaiden. When he found out what had happened to me, what they had done to me, he refused me. James noticed the sudden change in my mood and grabbed me by my shoulder.

"Eliza, forget him."

"Get the fuck of me, Vega." I snarled at him. Forget him? I've been trying to fucking forget him for the past 2 years. A lot had changed about me since then. Not for the better. The one thing that hadn't changed thought was the hurt and the anger I felt towards Kaiden. Suddenly remembering the mission, I asked, "Edi, have we arrived?"

"Yes, Shepard. We've been here for 3 minutes. Steven is waiting in the cockpit. Would it be possible to let me accompany you on this mission."

"Sure. Let's go, Vega." I shouted at him.


	3. Chapter 3

_As I'm sure most of you have noticed, I'm not exactly following the Mass Effect 3 storyline. This is obviously after Kaiden turned away from Shepard, and Shepard meets James and Edi, but other than that, I'm creating what happens based on what I have planned for my plotline. I hope everyone is enjoying what is happening so far! _

_Thanks for reading!_

* * *

"What the hell happened here," Vega asked as he glanced around the drop zone. Everywhere trees were burnt down; the ground was muddy with trek marks. The sky was red, and the air was ashy. It looked like shit down here.

"Everyone be on guard. Edi, I want you to scout down that path there with Vega. If you see anything, relay it to me using the comm. system."

"Ok," Edi said before starting down the path. Vega paused and looked at me, "Be careful, Shepard." His mouth suddenly stopped, and he hesitated another moment before silently following after Edi.

I started walking down where most of the tracks led. There seemed to be a ruined compound a little further ahead. From the distance, it looked abandoned.

Joker's voice suddenly rang out in my helmet, "Shep, we're picking up some radio frequencies. It sounds like there is another group of scouts down there. Edi is checking to see where the frequencies came from. Oh, wait, she said it's another Alliance unit. What the fuck? Why is another Alliance unit here, and why didn't Anderson tell us?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out. Tell Edi and Vega to meet me near the compound."

"On it, Shep. Um, I've got some more news. Edi just said the Alliance unit is registered under Kaiden. Well, signing off now. Oh, kick his ass for me." A sudden beep let me know that the transmission had been ended. With that news, my body had frozen. Kaiden. He's here. My mind started racing. Shit. Pull it together. I forced my body to move telling myself that I didn't give a fuck about Kaiden anymore.

The building was faded grey stone in a field of death. Nothing around the building was alive. There were no burnt trees either. The land surrounding the complex must have been empty before whatever occurred happened. I cautiously walked towards the entrance of the building. Edi and Vega were scouting around the building.

"Shepard, I'm picking up on 5 signals coming from inside the building," Edi stated.

"Can you tell if they are all Alliance?"

"Yes, Shepard."

"Alright, I'm going to go get Vega." I walked around towards where Vega had stopped. Looking at his back, I said, "Let's go."

"Edi told me. He's in there."

"Yes, he is." Suddenly, Vega turned around and grabbed me. His strong arms wrapping around my waist, my arms stuck to my side. "Just let me stay like this for a minute," Vega pleaded. My head was buried in his massive chest. "You know how I feel, Eliza."

"I know, James."


End file.
